click on the link above for a large panoramic view of Jiegu in January of 2010 before the quake.

As of 5:00 p.m. local time, more than 15 of our workers have arrived in Yushu. Another group of 15 was sent this evening, and they should arrive mid-morning Saturday, April 17th. These groups consist of highly trained health professionals and skilled surgeons, along with six logistics coordinators. Logistics coordinators are responsible for driving the doctors into the area so that they are rested and ready for action upon arrival. They also set up and manage the base of operations, keep them running fluidly, and transport patients and medical supplies to and from our bases of operation.

News from the field today was very positive. Teams traveling to Yushu have reported seeing massive amounts of government aid pouring into the area. We’ve heard that our initial team was able to administer medical care to large amounts of seriously and moderately injured people, and also assist and transport the injured to the medical base of operations. Tomorrow our team will focus on moving seriously injured and immobile patients to different medical bases.

The Health Department seems very happy to have our teams in the area and we feel privileged to work with the local government in order to provide relief to its people

Above is a picture of Yushu (Jiegu) taken 4 months ago. The town is actually a bit larger than is shown in the photo, but it gives you an idea of the landscape as well as the building style in the area. The pictures below were taken literally minutes after the earthquake occurred. It has been reported that the damage is widespread with upwards of 85% of the structures being destroyed.

As you can see, most of the buildings were reduced to absolute rubble. For more information see our “Relief Efforts” page as well as an audio interview from an eye witness at the scene. We, again, are thankful to be able to assist in the government effort in this area, to bring relief to these people.

On April 14th 2010 several earthquakes struck the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai province, the largest of which was magnitude 6.9. Initial eyewitness reports from the prefecture government seat Jiegu (Jyekundo) speak of extensive damage to houses and many wounded and dead. Official figures at time of writing are 300 dead and 8000 wounded. As more information becomes available we will be posting it atYushuEarthQuake.org.

Initial requests from the prefectural government to our organization (Plateau Perspectives) include medical supplies, tents, and blankets. We will be sending an advance medical team down in a few hours to assess the situation and set up to receive additional supplies and medical personnel.

Yushu Prefecture is where all of our work for the past 10+ years has taken place, and Jaegu (Yushu Town) is home to many of our local friends. We’re very sad to have lost at least one friend and are waiting to hear news about several others. All of our fellow expats who were in the area at the time of the quake have made it out safely.

Links
Enter the following Chinese links with latest news and pictures into translate.google.com to read the pages in English.

GoogleEarth map 1 shows the initial quake and several aftershocks that occurred throughout the day, Wednesday. The first quake occurred at 5:40 am, followed by a 6.9 quake two hours later approximately 29 miles northwest of Yushu Town.

GoogleEarth map 2 shows a westward view from Yushu Town to the seven earthquake sites. Times, depths, and magnitudes of each event are available from the U.S. Geological Survey at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/catalogs/

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